


Snowstorms and Rooftop Windows

by Falmouth



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Really it's just cute moments and some hatred for windows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2814428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falmouth/pseuds/Falmouth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean is a drama queen not used to the country life. Poor guy.<br/>written for the jearmin week III - day 6 - snowed in</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <i> "He didn't know much about the other – crap, he didn't even knew his age, but he was sure there wasn't a huge age gap between them – and wasn't sure if it was right to call his feelings a crush, but after the third night he had dreamed of the blond's lips joining his own in a soft kiss he came to the conclusion that yes, he was indeed crushing on his new attractive neighbor." </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Snowstorms and Rooftop Windows

 

Jean had never thought that living on his own would have been so difficult.

Of course he was mentally prepared to the _big_ changes in his life, like paying the bills, taking a forty minutes long bus ride for going to the city, and learning how to wake himself up alone without having his mother threatening to throw a cold water bucket in his head before he finally left the bed, but he had never considered many _minor_ events that tested his nerves every day. 

He had never thought that buying a little house in the country could have included old grumpy neighbors with overly-excited dogs that assaulted him every time he got home - he suspected his flowerbed in the backyard was  _assaulted_ by them too. He had never thought he should have expected birds chirping gleefully at five a.m. waking him up, or street sellers shouting about their products all day.

The thing Jean hated the most about his new life however was... that. His mother had described it as cute when she had visited the house, saying that it might have been useful, but that  _thing_ was nowhere cute or useful.

Jean hated,  _hated_ his room's rooftop window. 

The sunbeams of the early dawn shone sweetly on its glass every morning, eventually waking up the owner of the room, and Jean couldn't stand it. Sometimes, in the nights of full moon, also that pale satellite made fun of him standing and shining right in front of the window and directly on Jean's pillow. It seemed so peaceful and innocent and calm up there but Jean knew, knew it was doing it on purpose and should not be trusted.

Jean had made a mental note to sleep on the couch until he could afford to install shutters several times.

The lovely wake up, though, was not Jean's only reason of hate. More than often a curious bird would land on the glass, tapping it with his beak with a repetitive noise that made Jean  _crazy_ when he had to work, and he realized that the former owner must have hated it too and messed with the window, because when it rained some drops always made their way to Jean's floor, who was obligated to cover it with rags and bowls.

It was mid December now, and Jean had lived in his house for about four months,  _slowly_ getting used to all the ups and downs.

On the 21st, Jean woke up at ten and was welcomed to the new day with a gray and gloomy sky. The ride to the city was most exhausting than ever: the dull sky was a call that probably it would have snowed soon and the already numerous people that went in the city by public transport for last-minute Christmas gifts were almost duplicated.

Jean wasn't the type of person who loved to go shopping under the holiday lights, buying little things for everyone he knew, but he thought that at least he should have bought something for his mother that was coming over for Christmas day. Every year Jean didn't know what to buy her, and it ended up being a silly book he had never heard of or some weird cooking utensils, but the woman loved whatever it was anyway, because it was from his son.

It was a bit of sad, Jean realized, that that year his mother's present would have been probably the only one for him. He hadn't had the time to make real friendships neither at work nor in his neighborhood, and the few acquaintances he had were.. acquaintances, and no one bought Christmas presents for someone they barely knew.

During the day it really started to snow and it got slowly worse and worse. Jean had never lived in this part of the country and rarely had experienced snow, but he knew that  _there_ it could be a real problem.

He wanted to go home as soon as possible, so he bought the first random thing for his mother - _Sewing for Middle-Aged Women that want to feel young! Follow the latest fashion!-_ before they announced that streets were unavailable, and he was stuck 20 km from home in the cold, with nowhere to go.

While he was waiting at the bus stop, he blew in his hands, keeping them warm - why the hell he had left his gloves at home - closing his eyes and already tasting the warmth of his house. He was so going to lit that stupid fake fireplace of his and huddle up on the couch with a blanket and silly shows on TV.

The ride home was more enjoyable than the outward trip and when he finally reached the door of his house he sighed deeply in relief before entering home, until...  _splosh_

No, no, no, wait, what?  _Splosh?_ Splosh was not what entering in the house should sound like.

He looked down in horror and let out a pained groan when he saw sleet and water at his feet.

_No, no, no please tell me it's just a bad dream..._

The snowdrift coming from his bedroom, however, added to the undeniable cold that dominated the room, told him that it was all too real to be a dream.

_It's still a living nightmare._

Jean threw his bag on the couch and rushed to his room, and looked up at the ceiling, finding himself looking directly at the gray sky through the  _opened_ window. 

He stood speechless for a moment, motionless, as snow continued to softly fall in the house, occasionally melting as it touched the ground and spreading in the rest of the house.

Jean didn't want to believe it. How had he managed to leave the window opened especially in a day where the possibilities of snowing were so high?! He closed his eyes and opened them again, hoping that it would all be over and everything was magically back to n0rmality.

_Of course not._

He sighed, closed the rooftop window and looked at the mess on his floor. He didn't even care about the few snowflakes oh his head. He just stood there, with a disgusted expression on his face for a couple of moments, with no intention of cleaning up, and was brought back to the wold only when he heard someone calling him.

“Mr. Kirschtein? Er... Jean?”

Jean peeked out from the bedroom's door and saw a blond standing at the doorstep, realizing only in that moment that he had left the it opened. His heart jumped in his chest and suddenly he felt his face warmer, despite the snow in the house.

In the end, there was something good about his new life in the middle of Nowhere land. Something  _really_ good. 

He had first met Armin a week after his relocation and he had been the first who had talked to him since he had gotten there. Armin had been gardening that day and when he had spotted Jean in his own backyard too, reaching for the last sunny days of September, he had rushed towards him. He had passed a gloved hand through his hair, leaving some dirt in his blond locks, before removing his gardening gloves and offering his hand to the brunet.

“Good morning! You must be Jean Kirschtein right? I'm Armin Arlert” 

Jean had taken his cold and petite hand and had shaken it, smiling at how his previous gesture had left the blond's hair all ruffled.

“Yeah. I'm... Just call me Jean. Pleasure.”

Armin had smiled gleefully “The pleasure is all mine!” He had leaned against the fence that divided their properties resting his chin oh his hand looking intrigued at the other man.

“It's so unusual to see someone move here. Why you decided to live in this little town?”

“No reason in particular. I just needed a break form my old life.” He had stiffened and answered bluntly had Armin had raised his eyebrows, stepping back, him mouth shaped in a perfect 'o'.

“Oh, okay.” he had said, and Jean had been glad that he hadn't asked for more information. “Well, I hope you'll be fine here. Welcome!” 

That day had been the first of many meetings with Armin. He was his neighbor, so of course he saw him quite often, but the blond was almost the only one who had acknowledged Jean's presence. 

Every time they met outside at the postbox, Armin greeted him with a smile, wishing him a good day. Sometimes, he stopped for a brief talk, usually about silly things about the weather: Armin liked the clouds just as much as Jean hated them and he was thrilled about the cold season. One time Jean had seen him coming back at twilight, wearing a straw hat and a jeans overall. Jean had leaned on the window – the proper,  _normal_ window on the living room – greeting him with a 'Hey redneck!' and cursing himself for that right away, because he wasn't so in confidence with Armin to joke like that and maybe the blond had been offended by Jean's lame sense of humor. Luckily Armin had just laughed, showing him a little brown package. “Maybe you'll have more respect him farmers if I give you some of my grandma’s chicken eggs?” 

Refusing due to his egg intolerance had been almost painful. 

And that was how, day by day, Jean had found himself being more and more attracted to Armin. He knew his infatuation was silly, and was probably there just because the blond was nice to him, but some nights he had laid on his couch, trying the take the thing rationally, and he  _really_ thought Armin was a nice guy. Not only because he was really cute and attractive physically, with his dark blond hair and ocean blue eyes. He didn't know much about the other – crap, he didn't even knew his age, but he was sure there wasn't a huge age gap between them – and wasn't sure if it was right to call his feelings a  _crush,_ but after the third night he had dreamed of the blond's lips joining his own in a soft kiss he came to the conclusion that yes, he was indeed crushing on his new attractive neighbor.

But of course he couldn't just take Armin by the hand one day and just kiss him in real life.

After all, he was still just an acquaintance.

But now, here he was, standing on Jean's doorstep, wearing a dark blue wool hat speckled with snowflakes and hiding his face in a matching scarf.

“Please, just call me Jean. How many times do I need to tell you?”

Armin smiled and looked at his feet. It was then that he noticed the wet floor and looked up at Jean with a puzzled expression. “Is.. everything all right?”

Jean let out a pained sound “I left.. uh... I left the roof window opened. And it kinda snowed inside” Saying it out loud sounded more embarrassing and silly than he thought but still felt a little hurt when Armin burst out in a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand. 

“Yeah, I know it's stupid...” Jean said mortified.

“Oh no, no, don't take it like that! I feel you. Those things are really a pain, I know”

Jean smiled, relieved that Armin didn't think he was just an idiot. And,  _yes_ , Armin hated that window too. He had finally found something they had in common. One step closer to dating. 

“Anyway.. did you.. did you need something?”

It was a moment that he realized that Armin must have been there or a reason and had looked exactly for Jean, standing at his door and wishing to see him.

Jean felt his heart blooming in his chest.

“Oh, right!” Armin exclaimed, for a moment looking like he had forgotten why he was there too. “I wanted to.. wanted to give you.. er... something. Like a Chr... yeah you'll see. I'm doing it for all the neighborhood, so... I thought... Do you want me to help you first?”

And Jean didn't find any valid reason to refuse.

They checked all the rooms to make sure that all the windows were closed, and then started to remove – to shovel, literally – the melting snow out of Jean's bedroom.

Drying the floor was a bit more complicated, since the water had found its way under the sofa, or the library.

Jean often looked at Armin, fearing that the blond would just give up and leave at one point because why should he waste so much time with his awkward neighbor, but when their eyes met, however, Armin always smiled reassuringly at him.

“Doesn't it bother you?” the blond said after the house seemed – finally – back to normal.

“What?”

Armin pointed up at the window. “That. Without shutters. I could... I could fix them for you if you want.” he trailed off his voice, like he was almost regretting what he had just said. Or was being just really embarrassed about it. 

Jean took Armin gently by the shoulders and looked at him directly in the eyes. “Would you? Would you really?  _Please?”_

Armin giggled at Jean's exaggerated reaction.  _He really must have had many problems with that..._ “S-sure. I wouldn't have asked otherwise.” 

Jean really wanted to kiss him right then and there. 

But he reluctantly opted for decency.

“So, what was that you needed to give me?”

“I- oh. Sure” Armin run towards coat hanger at the corner of the room and fumbled in his coat's pockets, coming back shortly after and handing Jean a little package.

_Handing Jean a little package_ . A rectangular thing wrapped in red paper with a tiny purple bow at the top of it

_Armin was giving him-_

“I hope you'll like it. I'm sorry I didn't really know what to buy you. I guess... Merry Christmas then.” 

Jean looked at Armin in awe for a couple of seconds before taking the package in his trembling hands. He couldn't believe Armin had bought him a Christmas present. He couldn't believe the guy he had some stupid crush on had been in the city shopping just for him, had thought of him, what he may have liked and what not... his felt his heart do that funny thing in his chest again.

And suddenly, he felt horrible. Because he had been in the city just a few hours before and hadn't bought anything for Armin, hadn't even thought about the blond when he was there.

For a split second the unwholesome idea of giving Armin the present that was supposed to be his mother's crossed his mind, but he quickly brushed it off. Okay that he didn't know much about Armin's lifestyle but Jean was pretty sure that none 20ish years old boy would have appreciated the  _Sewing for Middle-Aged Women_ book. 

He felt his cheeks flushing and thanked Armin with a feeble voice. “Y- you shouldn't have! I- I didn't do anything for you...”

“No problem, Jean! Really, you were not supposed to. I did it because... because... Well maybe you'll get even next year... But please don't open it until Christmas day, okay? I can't be here oh the 25th, so I decided to give it to you today, but just... Grandpa said it's bad luck.”

“Don't worry, I'll treasure it under the tree.” Jean didn't really have a Christmas tree, living alone finally without his holidays-enthusiast mother, but he had somehow arranged some lights around a cone-shaped cardboard.

He placed the gift next to it and turned to see Armin that was putting his coat back again.

“Hey!” He couldn’t waste an occasion like this. Plus, if he let him go after he had helped him cleaning his house and had given him a gift he would have just made an horrible impression at Armin's eyes. “Wait a moment! Just.. er.. let me make you a tea or something. As a thank you for being so helpful today.”

Armin smiled and left his coat on the rack back again.

“You have Darjeeling right?”

  
  


-

  
  


A cup of tea and twenty minutes of a film later, Jean glanced over Armin's shoulder and out the window: the snow had never stopped and level was increasing quickly. He smiled, draping an arm over the blond shoulder and selfishly hoped that by the end of the movie there was so much snow to be impossible for Armin to cover the 150 meters back to his house. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a true story of me and my hatred for my rooftop window. My version is without the snow and Armin though. Guess Jean is not so unlucky since he gets cute blonds just for him.  
> Aaaaand aahhh I can't believe I finished this when I started it only yesterday. I dont' really have nothing to say. It's 4.00 am so i should probably just go to bed. I hope you liked it! ^_^


End file.
